LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2793, 10 June 1916, Page 12

LONDON WOOL SALES

PRICES AGAIN MOVE UPWARDS (From Our Special Correspondent.) London, April 20, 1916. The sales have been continued under very favourable conditions, aud there is no diminution in the attendance of the competition for the wool. Since last writing there have been only three days' sales, the mictions finishing last Wednesday, April ill, aud uro to be resumed on May 2 for live more days. 1 The new arrangements are working, splendidly, and the railway companies are certainly showing very considerable improvement, it being a fact that wool bought on the opening day was delivered iu Bradford on the Friday following, namely, three days after it was knocked down. 'i'he writer has'been frequently reminded of a weaver having in the loom a poor warp. It may seem a little technical to a wool-grower, but when tlicweaver's warp is tender the ends often come down, that is, they break. The loom has then to be stopped, ami the end "piecencd," this process also taking place wiiou warps are being spun. We might here make a little digression, and say that when ends break cither iu the spinning mule or the loom it is a source of annoyance, interfering with the earning capacity of tile operative ami preventing as much work being gut out as one desires to see. The moral is very plaiii, and shows the importance of sound wool, it being a fact that ends break' most when the wool is tender, indicating clearly the reduced, spinning capacity. This tenderness is very often in evidence when clips are being sold, the importance of soundness in tlio staple being a feature which the wool buyer, spinner, and manufacturer alone can appreciate. From the very beginning of the first process of manufacture right to the finished fabric, tender wool is a source of increased wastage, v'hile the /finished fabric is also tender, there being no known process that can be employed to infuse life and vitality, or, iu other words, replace the elasticity of staple lost by deficient growth. Merinos Dearer.

We are'glad to bo able to say that tlie sales are making excellent progress, good merinos being quite Id. above March. No doubt these short offerings are playing aii important part iu' determining values, all alike feeling'that there is going to be no surplus ot fine wool. It has become common property that licenses are going to be granted for reasonable quantities of dry .combed merino tops for France, and with shipping becoming more difficult and anrvals distinctly less, the . feeling'obtains that all the-merino wool iu sight will be wanted to satisfy current aud prospective needs. This last week some excellent figures have been made for merinos. Limestone ltidge from West Victoria has been shown ill all its glory, •this wool being good TO's, will give a clean yield- of 54 per cent., and although here and there tender like most other clips, it made the handsome price of Is." IOJd. That so far 1 is the outstanding price "of the series. Several good New England clips have been offered, although in no 'sense large, these wools making un to ■ Is. lOJd: iu the grease. Queensland,"too, has provided a good though by ho means . large supply, although the offerings have i certainly fallen off very materially In point : of general excellence compared with the • two previous series. One has longed io: -see more offerings from South Australia, \ but the wools are not there. Then, too,; the offerings' from West Australia are 1 getting into very small compass, but any-, thing showing dccent length is making very good figures. In fact, more than one has remarked that .prices are now ipt getting back, to where they were list January, though they .have still to go a fair distance before February values are reached. Still, no one need be surprised, to see prices advance sensibly further; in tact, it is remarkable the figures which are being paid even, to-day. . LondonAmerican representatives have done their very utmost to induce the War Trade Department to grant facilities for purchasing seedy, burry, carbonising > merhus, but so far without avail. . At the same time theso wools ire selling fully up to the best of. last series, tliero being a willingness to-day to buy more of the shabbier wools than we hn.ve often In fact, all descriptions of merinos are making excellent, figures, and are selling at the best of tlie series, prices still tending; against the buyer, anil beii>'g row 7s to' ft) per cent, above last series for-decent combing wools. c ltussia continues *o pive fairly goid support, although nothing near so active ;\s during recent auctions. Of course tlio wool is not there to buy. Still,, the fact of the Gibb brand ot scoui o i slcin wool from Melbourne selling at 3s. Oj<l., shows what can be done. It has been .-.-i daily occurouco to see up >o '.'s. 3d. pvd fcr good medium scoureds, it bviug the writer's firm conviction that if any of the superior lines were available which wero to be seen in January,- leluuary, aud March, up to Tis. I'd. would st.'ll bo forthcoming. There are- several home trade manufacturers in tlie wrollsn. trade who are .very keeu to ouv gocd scoireds, and greasy fine lambs are making eicellent figures, every bve, whetner hurry cr not, being mostly cleared by tlioso making shirtings for the i cmy an.l Navy. Crossbreds Selling at Firmer Prices. . Tlio week has provided a v,\-y good display of-New Zealand treiioy lhw« ciess.brcds, the wools being absoibud by the homo trade with increasing keenness.: No one need be surprised a'- this, notwithstanding, that many firms were looking forward to being u':le t:> acno.ie this stock on somewhat easier terms. The general impression prevailed in Bradford that prices would be the turn eaficr, r.nd this would load to many firms buying extensively with a view of putting these wools into stock. These hopes are not J>;ing realised, crossbreds selling decidedly in sellers' favour since the .;ptning. Fjauce is still purchasing sma;l .quantities of line qualities, and we cannot see any class of crossbreds that have iu't made vp any initial loss. Those irms wl>o who holding oft in the hope c.f getting in . at less money have seen the .futility cf their attitude, and tliero is ; certainly increased competition all round. .Tbi.- nif lit weakness seen in-medium crossbreds has to a large extent disappeared, in fict buyers are all operating keenly: (Jrnssl-ied lambs, when clean aud of decent.'enyth are l.ke•wise selling at firm prices, but when they are- badly infected with sfed and which are difficult naxvadays to get carbonised, there is a little iveafcmss in evidence.

Slipes aro also fully firm at-the - March level of values. Of course tliero is no big quantity now available, and this may have something to do with the general firmness, but ifll things considered-slipes are doing well and making fully the 'best of last sales' rates. . Tho offering ' ot scoured crussbi'eds is very limited, and hero excellent figures are being paid.. We sometimes think that about a penny advance is seen oil some of the better percels; in fact, it' is now no uncommon tiling to seo these wools making anywhere from 2s. 3d. to 2s. Bd. for .really good lines.

There is renewed interest in this market, and whatever movement thero is is towards betterment. Merinos are benefiting most under the strong advices from Coleman Street, and there are" certainly more transactions in tops. At the Biimo time thero is by 110 means uniformity in topmakers' quotations, and while <i fair business has been .done sinco Thursday, Gt's tops have been bought at very different prices, ranging all the way from 3s. od. to 3s. 7d. Two or three of ■ the biggest topmakers will not quote, preferring .to buy wool and hold their hand, circumstances warranting them in placing confidence in the future. While the market cannot be said to be at all active, there is still sufficient business doing to prevent things from stagnating; in'fact, tonfiderfce is to-day more stronglyexpressed in the future than during the past six weeks. The latest announcements of the Government are causing considerable concern, «nd the formation, of. a now Wool Committee generally finds favour, wool people here recognising that at last there is going to bo a tribunal to appeal to that is likely to understand the peculiarities and technicalities of the trade better than could have been done under old conditions. Private meetings havo been held in Braford regarding the controlling by the Government of yarn prices in the.Leicester market, and spinners here are not going to let matters rest where they are without making a protest, and possibly some recommendations. Crossbred? too are 011 the turn for the better, but there is not that decisiveness about the movement here that one would like to see. At the same time, things are on the hardening side if anything, the free wool is selling in Coleman Streot being slightly in favour of tho raiy material. J